Sthānakavāsī

Sthānakavāsī accept thirty-two of the Jain Agamas, the Śvetāmbara canon, contending that the scriptures make no mention of idol worship and temples.

In the 15th century, the Jain reformer Loṅkā Śāh, a scribe in the Gujarat region, played a pivotal role in the development of the Sthanakavasi tradition.

[2] Armed with access to numerous Jain scriptures and manuscripts, Loṅkā interpreted them as lacking references to temple construction or image worship, despite these practices being prevalent at the time.

[2] Loṅkā argued that building temples led to the destruction of microscopic organisms, and ritualistic pūjā (worship) involved subtle forms of harm through material offerings like flowers or incense.

Today, both the Śvetāmbara Sthānakavāsī and Terāpanthī sects align with Loṅkā, asserting that mental worship (bhāva-pūjā) is the most appropriate form of religious practice.